A CEO of a major tech company is helping his Ukrainian employees find shelter during the Russian invasion.

Since the start of 2022, the head of Kitrum, a software development company, has been helping employees financially with places to live while their home is being attacked.

“It was probably the toughest time in my life,” said Kitrum CEO Vlad Kytainyk.

At the time of the invasion, Kytainyk had to make a choice: stay in the country or move to Florida.

“I had no plans to live in Florida,” he told Spectrum News. “I love Florida. I have a lot of connections here, but my roots are in a bit of another place, even though I know how to run things here.”

Making it to Riverview and leasing a home was just the first obstacle to tackle in an ongoing mess the war has caused. His physical office on the eastern side of Ukraine had to be shut down, leaving hundreds of employees without a centralized hub.

Even with the stress of relocating himself, the last thing Kytainyk says he would want to do is forget about his team in Ukraine.

“When you see our values, it’s clear that people are our main asset,” he said. 

And he said no crisis is going to deter him from those values. As a result, he and his company have helped more than 100 employees by giving them money to move to the western part of Ukraine, or to other parts of Europe to get away from the violence.

He’s also helping them with payments for leases and other issues that are coming up.

While some may say the moves are surprising, considering companies are in the business of making money, Kytainyk argued that people are the best investment he can make.

“You may save money, you may get a better KPI, you may get a better margin, but you won’t feel this invisible energy that unites everybody,” he said. “We will rebuild everything. One thing we cannot get back is our people.” 

His workers around the world say they are thankful for the energy he creates, which is something that can also be seen in his work and in time spent with his family.

His wife Ana is from Ukraine as well and her father is currently in the Ukrainian army fighting the Russian invasion.

“They bombarded the place he was working,” Kytainyk said.

“Yeah,” said Ana. “Five times.”

They say they are thankfully that he’s alive, but still worry because they haven’t seen their families in person in months.

“We miss our families a lot,” Kytainyk said. “Our grandmothers, grandfathers, our family and friends.”

Both of them say they are hopeful that the war will end soon, so they can bring their 9-month-old girl back to Ukraine.

All the while, they say they are looking forward to the moment they can reunite with their family and employees who had to leave once again.

According to Kytainyk, of the 200 employees he had in Ukraine at the time of the invasion, only about 90 are still there.